An expenisve hobby

Taylor and I saw this boat yesterday in Bowmanville.... on it's way from the factory in New Brunswick to the Toronto Harbour......





When we saw this angle, my first thought was.... HOW MUCH FUEL DOES THAT THING TAKE, I WONDER......



So I walked over and asked the guy filling it....


How much does it take to fill this thing?

A LOT was all he would say...

I waited til he was finished... and clicked a picture....








$490.91 ..... ay yi YI !!!



This is the owner ..... walking in to pay for the fuel..... he seemed to be a lot lighter when he came back out!!!

World Traveller

Yup................ I've arrived!!!

Leftovers

In February 2006, at the 56^th Berlin International Film Festival, Filmakers were invited to join a Short Film Competition on the Theme: FOOD, TASTE and HUNGER.

3600 Filmmakers from around the world joined the competition

Only 32 films were chosen to be screened at the Berlinale Talent Campus….

This film topped the competition and was judged Most Popular Film.

If this doesn’t change your perspective….. then nothing will.....

It's a 6 minute film....

please.... watch.

Chicken a la Carte

Ice Road Truckers

So I've become very fascinated in the last week or so, with a program on the History Channel...

it's called Ice Road Truckers....... for two months every winter, 3 diamond mines in the North West Territories bring in all of their annual supplies by truck ....

The roads are only open for 60 days..... The main road, in this show is just over 300 miles long... and it winds northeast from Yellowknife....

The road is 85% across frozen lakes.... and 15% across portages ... which are man made ice roads, across tundra..... bulldozers cut a path between the lakes, and then water trucks flood the paths and make it a virtual skating rink that trucks traverse....

The supplies are collected over several months, and stored in truck yards in Yellowknife...... From there, they are transported by truck ... in frigid temperatures..... the drivers at some points working and driving in 24 hours of darkness....

The task is mammoth......10,000 loads in 60 days....which works out to 4-truck convoys leaving dispatch every 20 minutes......

One of the diamond mines ( one is Tiffany's, one is Debeers, ) harvests 15 pounds of diamonds per day.... which is worth $4 million....The cash flow is staggering.

The truckers can earn a years' salary in 60 days.... but the risks are great...

The breakdowns are frustrating , very costly and can be life threatening if they break down somewhere along the lake .....

Sleep deprivation makes the risks even greater

This is an incredible show...

It's very very dangerous work.... and completely fascinating to watch......


If you have some time.... go to the history channel's website ( Click HERE )

Click on TV Shows and then from the drop down box, click Ice Road Truckers.... You can watch entire episodes from the first two seasons.....

sigh..... it's addicting!!!!

















The roads are constantly flooded by water trucks.... in the end, the ice is much thicker on the "road" portion than any other spots on the lake..... the danger is if you go off the road, you could easily go through cause the ice is thinner off to the sides....






This is the sonar machine that measures the ice thickness


Cracks like this are a constant danger.....

Karine Blais

Things I have learned lately......

[1] Writing "Wood Stove Certification" exams, at my age.... is not nearly as easy as it was when I was younger....

[2] Drinking a lot of coffee to stay awake during Wood Stove Certification courses..... doesn't work... until you get home and get into bed... THEN it keeps you awake....

[3] There is VERY LITTLE good programming on tv late at night....

[4] SHAM WOW is on for only $19.95 and if you act NOW...... you will get a double offer.....

[5] Since men can't multi-task, ... doing laundry while trying to study for Wood Stove Certification exams.... is not a smart idea.....

[7] A Basket full of wet laundry that sits for two days..... is still a basket full of wet laundry

[8] iPods are not washing machine friendly

[9] iPod cases come out very clean after sitting for two days in a basket of wet clean laundry

[10] iPod cases, after two days of sitting in a basket of wet laundry .... DO dry out....
Socks..... do NOT

[11] iPod does not honour their warranty when you use MAYTAG AND STUPID in the same sentence.

[12] When laying in bed late at night being amazed at SHAMWOW.... one should not eat Jalapeno chips and rub their eyes.

[13] Neither should they pick their noses

[14] sigh....... gotta go... iPods are on sale this week